I'm back in the office today, tired but brimming with renewed enthusiasm and ideas after spending two days in Reading as part of the Westcoast Small Business Forum.

My fellow SBSC colleague Andy Parkes has covered the event in detail over at his blog, but just to add my thanks to Susanne, AJ and the rest of the guys at Westcoast for putting on such a thoroughly useful couple of days and for being such great hosts!

As a "one man band", spending two days out of the office at any event needs to be strongly justifiable, and the fact I was laden down with a cold didn't help one bit, but there's no doubt in my mind that this was 2 days well spent in the company of both my peers within the SMB Community and the vendors who supply us in that channel.

Wednesday saw a "Round Table Discussion" hosted at Westcoast HQ in Reading, featuring representatives from Microsoft, Symantec, Westcoast and Microsoft Small Business partners ranging from one-man-bands like myself up to very successful high turnover businesses, which as a relative "newbie" and "small fry" to the Community I appreciated even being invited to sit in on. The opportunity to both listen to such a wide range of candid opinions, and to be able to add my own $0.02 and receive feedback from other more experienced members of the Community was valuable.

Despite getting woefully lost on the way back to the hotel (thanks Co-Pilot 6 Sat-Nav) and ending up in nearby Wokingham whilst dragging a bemused James Cash along with me for the ride (I hate Reading's ring-road...) we finally reached Reading and after a quick spruce up headed out onto the town.

Wednesday night was spent "networking" in the Pitcher & Piano in Reading Central with a swathe of people from the Small Business Community. There were all manner of personalities involved which made for an entertaining evening, and I'm thinking the vast amounts of alcohol consumed may have helped things go well too. I've a newfound respect for certain employees of certain vendors, who managed to party hard all night, then present themselves in a polished manner the following day. Seasoned veterans, obviously...

Thursday saw a trip to Thames Valley Park at Microsoft HQ for the actual forum. Thank heavens for complimentary Sausage Sandwiches to ease fuzzy heads upon arrival! In addition to meeting some more (in)famous faces from the Community who'd I'd not had an opportunity to meet in person before, I was genuinely impressed by the presentations from HP (who's Server range I'm a new convert to as a result of this event), Microsoft, Symantec (who realised they had an uphill struggle shaking off the crappy Anti-Virus supplier image, but addressed this admirably) and most of all Westcoast on why the Small Business Channel is important to them.

Did I mention how entertaining Westcoast Chairman Joe Hemani is to listen to? Don't go changing Joe! <grin>

Overall, a fabulous couple of days which have filled me with a sense of enthusiasm for both the Community and my own business which I last felt coming away from attendance at the Microsoft Small Business Symposium in Manchester. There is the value of the couple of days out of the office for me, right there.

I understand that there is a hope that this will become a regular event, with Westcoast as a supplier nailing their colours to the SBSC mast. I'm all in favour of this and hope the regular event becomes a reality - as judged on this past couple of days, such an event couldn't be run any better than by Susanne Dansey and Westcoast.

For Christmas this year, I'd like a Stripper. A CD Stripper that is.

I think the GG's love of the household tat to be found in the Betterware Catalogue must be rubbing off onto me...

The West Midlands ICT Cluster Conference takes place next Thursday 22nd November at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. Attendance is cost-free and there are still places available. I'll be attending from the 8am Breakfast Networking session onwards, so if you're going along - let me know so we can meet-up and have a chat!

For more information and to register do visit www.ncc.co.uk/wmict

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The West Midlands ICT Conference, one of our region's most important ICT events, takes place at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull, on Thursday 22 November 2007. This is your opportunity to share in what has happened, be part of what is happening and influence the future direction in one of the West Midland's fastest growing industry sectors.
Our region already hosts cutting-edge software developers, forward-thinking investors, people who are already building a stronger regional IT industry. The ICT Cluster's mission is to harness this expertise to bring economic advantage to businesses and individuals throughout the West Midlands. This conference and your contribution, will determine our agenda moving forward - book now and make your voice heard.
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Inspiration
This year's keynote speaker, Scott Dodds, General Manager, Small Business Division, Microsoft, will share his vision for the ICT market place in the region's ICT business and government environment. Following the previous success of the Parkinson style format, Scott will be interviewed by Stuart Linnell, the Conference Host. Delegates are invited to submit their questions to the organisers prior to the day of the conference.

Industry Expertise
Learn from two of the IT industry's leading experts on effective ways to make your business grow. Peter Richards, formerly of BT and now with SAS and Steve Connell, a leading sales and marketing specialist, offer practical advice on winning strategies for ICT businesses.
Miles Garner of RDM, the ICT Excellence Awards overall champion for 2006 and Kevin Corti of PIXELearning provide incisive insights on how they have developed their businesses exploiting ICT and business innovation.
Learn from the workshops hosted by the experts which include John Blake (Head of Hosted IP Technology, BT Global Services), Judy Groves (VP Marketing, SCC), Jon Carpenter (Systems Engineer, McAfee) and James Akrigg (Partner Technology Solutions Lead, Microsoft).

Innovation
Future Directions in ICT - The Business Opportunities. Your opportunity to learn from and to question the panel of experts on the Future Direction of ICT and predicted business opportunities.

Internet Café
To help the busy executive to keep in touch with their office UKita have sponsored a free internet facility which will be available from 8am to 8pm.

The West Midlands ICT Excellence Awards
The ICT Excellence Awards are being held as a separate event this year commencing shortly after the Conference closes. Beginning with a Drinks and Canapé reception the Awards celebrate the achievements of the region's most successful ICT businesses. In addition to the ICT Excellence Awards, Accredit UK are launching the new 'supplier standard' accreditations by presenting certificates to the first successful businesses.

How to Register
Do not miss the chance to be involved in shaping the future of the ICT industry in the West Midlands. Register to attend this conference NOW. Spaces are limited to ensure all delegates have an opportunity to participate fully. Places are complimentary, however due to the heavy demand for places a charge of £49 + VAT will be applied for non attendance if not cancelled 48 hours prior to the conference.
To book your place visit www.ncc.co.uk/wmict or email kylie.smith@ncc.co.uk

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Programme (Subject to change)

08.00

Networking Breakfast and Exhibition
Sponsored by BT

08.30

Registration

09.00

Welcome & Introduction
Stuart Linnell, MBE
Award-winning broadcaster Stuart Linnell MBE has more than 35 years experience in radio and television, working for the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, Setanta TV and for commercial radio stations in the UK and Ireland.

09.05

Cluster Strategy - Beyond the Successes
ICT Cluster Opportunity Group Chair, Richard Leary MBE

09.30

Keynote Presentation - An Interview with Scott Dodds
Scott Dodds, General Manager, Small Business Division, Microsoft
Scott Dodds was appointed General Manager of Microsoft's SME & Partner Group on 1 January 2007. The SME and Partner group strives to improve the way that Microsoft and its partners engage with small and medium businesses to drive technology adoption. This involves the delivery of first-class sales, marketing and services programmes, partner education and other support schemes to ensure the best possible customer experience.

10.10

Business Innovation - Exploiting ICT
1st Case Study for Success - Miles Garner of RDM
2nd Case Study for Success - Kevin Corti of PIXELearning

11.00

Break and Exhibition

11.20

Effective Ways of Making your Business Grow
John Sealey, Your Marketing Matters Ltd

Mark Abrams, Previous of Myratech.net plc

12.20

Future Directions in ICT - The Business Opportunities
Panel Session: The future direction of technology and predicted business opportunities.
Panel will include:
Michael Gough, CEO, National Computing Centre
John Blake, Head of Hosted IP Technology, BT Global Services
James Akrigg, Partner Technology Solutions Lead, Microsoft
John Allen, Independent Technical Consultant formerly of SCC

13.00

Lunch & Exhibition
Sponsored by West Midlands Mobile & Wireless

14.00

Workshop 1
New Defences against Increasing Attacks
Jon Carpenter, Systems Engineer, McAfee
Workshop 2
The future of Software for Small Businesses
James Senior and Matt McSpirit, Microsoft Partner Technology Specialists
Workshop 3
Operational Efficiency IP - Becoming unified communications ready
John Blake, Head of Hosted IP Technology, BT Global Services
Workshop 4
How to turn Green IT into Gold
Judy Groves, VP Marketing, SCC

14.50

Move to next session

15.00

Workshop 5
New Defences against Increasing Attacks
Jon Carpenter, Systems Engineer, McAfee
Workshop 6
The future of Software for Small Businesses
James Senior and Matt McSpirit, Microsoft Partner Technology Specialists
Workshop 7
Operational Efficiency IP - Becoming unified communications ready
John Blake, Head of Hosted IP Technology, BT Global Services
Workshop 8
How to turn Green IT into Gold
Judy Groves, VP Marketing, SCC

15.55

Plenary Questions & Prize Draw
Stuart Linnell MBE, Conference Host

16.15

Close of Conference

ICT Excellence Awards

17.00

ICT Excellence Awards Drinks & Canapé Reception
Sponsored by Accredit UK

17.45

ICT Excellence Awards
Hosted by Stuart Linnell MBE with Awards presented by Scott Dodds, Microsoft

ICT Excellence in Innovation (Product) Award
Sponsored by University of Warwick Science Park
ICT Excellence in Innovation (Service) Award
Sponsored by QinetiQ

ICT Excellence Best Public Sector Project for ICT SMEs
ICT Excellence in Skills Award
ICT Excellence in Creative Partnership Award
ICT Excellence Honorary Award for Best Corporate/SME Partnership
ICT Excellence Regional Champion Award
Presentation of the first Accredit UK Certifications

19.30

Awards Finish"

Regular readers of this blog will know of my penchant for vocally expressing my displeasure (some may even say "Ranting") at the ridiculous costs of Wireless Internet access, be it via expensive Wi-Fi Hotspots, or overpriced Mobile Operator Data offerings.

I already pay a very reasonable £7.50 a month to T-Mobile for their "Unlimited" (well, 1GB) Web'n'Walk plan on my MDA Vario II handset. I can't recommend this service enough - it's very reliable and it's very cool having the web-in-your-pocket wherever you are!

There is an option to increase that subscription to £15.00 a month and additionally use the Mobile Phone as a Bluetooth Modem, but I've read various horror stories of incredibly poor driver support and flaky connections.

So when I heard Mobile Operator 3 had begun to offer a tenner-a-month 3G Dataplan alongside a USB 3G Modem, I was intrigued.

Historically, 3 haven't got the best of records with customer service - but recent reviews I've read show they've improved on that front. Only time will tell I guess and you can be sure I won't hold back if I receive anything less than superior support. :-)

Ordering over the web from www.three.co.uk was simple, the data-plan options and up-front costs being made obvious. I plumped for the one-off £99 cost for the USB Modem and a 12-month contract at £10 a month for 1GB of data (the "Lite" plan). 18 month and 24 month contracts saw the USB Modem cost reduced considerably, but my preference is to suck'n'see at this stage.

A day later the USB Modem arrived via Royal Mail Special Delivery, and so I duly unwrapped it, plugged the new SIM card into the unit and followed the instructions for installation onto my Windows Vista Business Laptop. The instructions were:-

"Plug into a spare USB port and follow the on-screen prompts".

My kind of installation!

After registering the IMEI number on www.immobilise.co.uk as a security precaution (in the event of your Mobile Phone/Datacard getting stolen, Immobilise is useful for providing the required info for reporting the theft and many times asking the provider to disable the unit) I plugged the unit in and sure enough, a minute or so later the installation had completed and I had a new "3 USB Modem" icon on my Desktop.

Testing time! When I initially fired the Modem up, it failed to connect three times. Alas, it was down to impatience - and given a couple of minutes the unit had locked onto a decent HSDPA connection - which is better than T-Mobile which only offers GPRS here in the mean streets of Weoley Castle! For the uninitiated, HSDPA is the next step in 3G Mobile offerings - and offers true Broadband-esque speeds from Mobile connections.

Clicking "Connect" in the software a third time and 10 seconds of dial-up handshaking later I'm online and instantly impressed at the web browsing speeds! Unlike other providers, Instant Messaging/VoIP packages like Skype and Live Messenger aren't disabled - so no problems there. The software offers speed connection overviews and upload/download meters so you can keep an eye on your usage.

I immediately nip over to Speedtest.net to see how the speed is. Impressive! 880k down - almost 1mb from a Wireless connection here in the suburbs! Upload is less impressive, at under 100k, but still adequate.

As an added bonus, the latest Draytek Broadband Routers (of which all my clients are now running) have a handy-dandy USB port that accepts external USB Modems to use 3G Connections for Internet access. I've not tested this as yet, but in theory it should mean I can fly to the rescue (like some sort of geeky superhero) to any client who has experienced a total Broadband Internet outage. Kapow evil ISPs!

So first impressions are - it's all very cool! Question marks obviously hang over signal coverage and ongoing Support from 3 as a provider - but time will tell on both those fronts.

In the interests of Scientific Research I'll be taking my laptop and the 3G Modem to as many different Public House locations across Birmingham over the next few lunchtimes - purely to see how good the coverage signal is in various areas of course!

You want to send a large file to a colleague or an external source - so how do you do this at the moment?

Do you fire up Microsoft Outlook (or your choice of e-mail client), hit "New Message", type in the recipients name, attach that 2mb Excel file and then click Send?

Works right? Well - most of the time anyway... And anyway, it wasn't an important file so it doesn't really matter if it arrives eh?

Hold on? It *was* important?! The intended Recipient has been in touch and asked you when that file you were supposed to be sending is going to arrive! You get in touch with your IT Department or E-Mail provider and say "I sent this file, but it's never arrived - where is it?"

They say "We don't know" - and they'd be right - here's why.

E-Mail was built way back in the mists of time with the intention of sending messages comprising entirely of text. This was before Excel files, pictures of Britney Spears or funny videos of pet Cats falling off chairs.

"But I have sent attachments before and they've arrived!" you add.

So they did. What happens when you attach a Word file, an Excel spreadsheet or any type of attachment to an e-mail is this. Your e-mail software converts it to plain text (Read more about MIME for the geeky explanation) and when your intended recipient receives that e-mail, his or her software converts that text back into the the attachment you sent. They open it. All is well. Most of the time, anyway.

Why shouldn't that attachment get through ok? For starters, if you send the wrong type of file via e-mail it will get blocked by the recipients ISP, e-mail provider, or even company e-mail server as a potential virus. What's the wrong type of file? Well that depends from system to system - some systems block JPG images, others even block Excel spreadsheets - it's pretty much pot luck, you can't tell until you've tried sending that file.

So let's presume the type of attachment you want to send is allowed. You send the e-mail, but it arrives hours and hours later. Why? Well, if it's a large file it may have been intentionally delayed. You see, not every e-mail recipient has an expensive speedy Internet connection ready to download tons of information. Some systems are slow, and the system administrators therefore have to make a choice between allowing your large attachment through via e-mail and delaying dozens or even hundreds of other e-mails, or allowing that majority of tiny e-mails to arrive quickly and postpone gathering your e-mail until overnight when things are a lot quieter.

Other ISP's or e-mail providers simply block large attachments altogether. Depending on your provider, you may find the largest attachment you can send it 2mb, 3mb, 5mb or 10mb. They do this for the exact same reason we've just discussed - they want to allow that other 95% of e-mail traffic to arrive quickly and unimpeded by your mammoth e-mail.

Finally, you've chosen the right type of attachment, your ISP allows it, it's not been blocked by any Virus or Spam filters and it therefore arrives - but your intended recipient tries to open it and Windows tells them the file is corrupted, Outlook steps in and says "That attachment might be dangerous, I'm not letting you open it", or worse, your recipient tries to read his e-mails but everything has mysteriously ground to a halt on "Send/Receive". They can't click anything - Outlook has crashed! That huge video of the new-born Ducklings riding on a Skateboard you've sent them means they can't use their e-mail at all. Thanks a lot buddy!

Recipient complains to you that your file is bad/corrupted/too big, you complain to your IT department, they hold their head in their hands and weep.

If you've not already got the gist of what I'm driving at here - it's this...

Sending large attachments via e-mail is a bad idea.

So what are the alternatives? Well you could burn that file to CD or DVD, pop it in the post and hope the Royal Mail delivers it. But they may be on strike, or worse, they may not be on strike and still not bother to deliver your package until 2099 as it's 1 penny short on the postage stamps you've attached.

Fear not - there are electronic alternatives that make sending a large attachment to a recipient painless and easy. What's more, they're free!

The first option is my preferred option. It's a web-site called YouSendIt. Go visit it now! It's free to use for basic services, although a paid-for version offers some features you might find useful. You fill out the form like a normal e-mail, add your attachment as normal, and then click send (as normal). Your intended recipient receives an e-mail, as normal, except it contains a link to download the attachment you've sent instead of the actual attachment. Your recipient clicks said link, they download the file - voila! No fuss, no muss. Because the e-mail you've sent is plain text, it arrives instantly and because the recipient is downloading the file from the Internet directly as opposed to the file being transferred through a dozen different systems before it hits their e-mail server - they aren't impeded by as many potential filters blocking the attachment or speed of download.

If you use Microsoft Outlook you can even install a handy free plug-in from YouSendIt that means you simply write your e-mail as normal, attach the file as normal, and click send as normal. YouSendIt then strips the attachment out, uploads it as you would via the web-site, and the intended recipient receives the original e-mail with the link to download the attachment - and all of this is done for you automatically without any change in your normal procedures!

There are other options for sending large files to someone, but none as simple as YouSendIt. If you're really interested, go and take a look for more information on FTP (File Transfer Protocol), File Splitters (such as GSplit) or even Microsoft Live SkyDrive - which I've talked about before. All are free. I'd still pick YouSendIt over these options every time though.

Finally, a couple of other tips for sending attachments via e-mail.

If you're sending the attachment to an internal colleague - why bother attaching the file at all? Simply send an e-mail containing a link to the location of the file on the shared network drive. If you're both working on the same file then it means one less revision of that file floating around too!

If you're sending a picture to someone via e-mail - why bother? Upload it to any of the photo sharing sites such as Flickr or PhotoBucket - and then send them a link to it's new home on the web!

Same goes for videos. Don't ever EVER send a video as an attachment! Upload them to YouTube or Google Video and send the link via e-mail.

Finally, if you positively have to send a picture via e-mail - make sure you've resized it first. Go download Microsoft Image Resizer, install it, right click on the picture and click "Resize". Your 2mb picture of Jess the Cat wrestling with a ball of wool will suddenly be reduced to a few KB, without any noticeable loss of quality. In fact, go download this free software now and use it to resize all those images stored on your Hard Drive or Shared Network Drive - I guarantee you'll save around 75% of your disk space instantly. Neat huh?

So hopefully the above will help change your mind the next time you go to send that huge file via e-mail! If you decide to send me a large file via e-mail, expect me to reply with a link to this blog post!

Feel free to get in touch if you have any queries, or leave a comment - I'll happily help you argue your case with any IT Department who disagrees with the above. :-)

If you're off out to a Fireworks Display tonight, enjoy!

If you're not living in a Commonwealth country and are therefore wondering what Bonfire Night is - it's merely that we Brits celebrate a terrorist trying to destroy our base of Government a few hundred years ago. It's obvious really.

Our own trip to a Bonfire Night Party last night was somewhat marred by the fact that here in South Birmingham, the fog was so heavy that we couldn't see 10 yards in front of us, let alone there were pretty fireworks in the sky! We contented ourselves with writing our names in the air with cheap sparklers and then eating traditional British fare... ye olde Chinese Takeaway!

Next year's Bonfire Night is going to be spent trying to find a Firework like the one in this video!

I read a lot of blogs every day. I have dozens listed on my Google Homepage - so they are staring me in the face every time I open my Web Browser. I have tons more listed in my Outlook RSS feeds, and yet more still listed in my Mozilla Firefox RSS feeds.

Within the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community, blogs are generally accepted as a place where we (SBSC Partners) share information with each other, clients and the IT Pro Community. This information can be technical in nature (how to install SSL Certificates on SBS 2003, for instance), they can give glowing or scathing reviews of the latest Vendor offerings, they may provide information on an industry story, or sometimes they may provide a big blue soapbox for the writer to get on and lambast the latest injustice in their work life (did I mention I love these types?).

I find reading blogs a great way to get to know my peers, to listen to their opinions, to heed their warnings not to make the same mistakes as they did, and in many many cases (such as this guy, this chap, this lady, this gent, this gal, and this jolly fellow) to learn more from a regular stream of short text articles than I would by doing any expensive Business Management or Technical course.

I've written my own blog for the past two years or so. It's helped raise my profile amongst my peers, it's enabled me to share Technical information with those who want to learn, and sometimes it's generated feedback via comment or e-mail that makes me smile (the "Thank you" type of feedback) or bang my head against the hard desk in my office (the "You b@stard - you were writing about me, right?" comments).

On the whole though, I find blog writing to be something very positive.

So both reading and writing blogs are, in this writers humble opinion, a hugely beneficial way of fast tracking your career in IT - whether you be self employed, a small business owner who uses IT, or an IT Professional working for someone else.

So it surprised me recently when I was in attendance at a Microsoft sponsored event that was heavily (100 participants+) attended by us Techy Types, when the question "Who in this room writes a blog?" - only four hands went up, and three of them were fellow SBSC colleagues I recognised.

Wow! Either us SBSC types are high achievers, technology evangelists and perhaps a tad uber-geeky, or perhaps loads of folks haven't sussed the benefits of the participating in the Blogosphere just yet.

The usual excuses I hear for not writing a blog are "I've got nothing interesting to say". Well - that doesn't stop me buddy! <grin>. Seriously though, think back over your week - have you fixed some technical issue, have you dealt with some obscure bug in some code, have you dealt with a surly Vendor or better still, a fantastic Vendor? Blog it. Trust me, if you've experienced the problem, somebody else will (or has) and will be grateful for your blog the next time they Google on it. What's more, next time you need some help, by actively participating you may have encouraged someone else to do the same thing and blog about their experiences to help you - and thus it continues.

Before you know it, you'll have dozens or hundreds of blog entries and people will start assuming you know what you talk about. Never let them know the truth. :-)

The latest man to start blogging is James Harbidge of Leicester based Small Biz IT. The thing about James is, he's a really nice chap and every time I've ever met him he's imparted some knowledge about the vendors he's used and the challenges he's faced in running his own business that I've learnt from. I always find it interesting to chat to James, but don't get the chance to do so often enough. Guess what? I'll be reading his blog from now on - so keep up the good work James!

Write a blog yourself? Feel free to leave a comment here and shamelessly self-promote so everyone can go take a look!